Ray Of Hope
by lil noir neko
Summary: The sequal to Fading. When you're lost in the darkness can you be saved? When you're lost can the one person who hurt you the most find and save you? In his case it's possible.


**Hey guys this is the follow up to Fading. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Summary: When you're lost in the darkness can you be saved? When you're lost can the one person who hurt you the most find and save you? In his case it's possible. **

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**Ray Of Hope**

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It was raining like it had been for the last five days. No one dared to go out into the rain unless it was to get to class or get some food. Even if there were a few who were risky it was hardly worth a venture out there to go out. One of those risky few included her brother who was currently standing in the rain staring at the sky. He was soaked from head to toe. She brushed away her auburn hair and watched him.

She did this a lot and no, she wasn't a stalker. In her mind, even though they were stepbrother and sister, she knew it was wrong to love him. Ever since the party he seemed distant. She regretted her words and remembered with bitterness that she hadn't thought before she had spoken, or in her case shouted. She frowned and watched him from far away. Why?

He would always disappear when she was around. When he had had looked at her he held no emotion. His eyes were blank and he seemed less interested in the things he enjoyed. M.O.M had commented on the change when she found him in his room, his body weak and nearly dying. No drugs had been found in his system and no cuts had been found on his skin. There had been no explanation as to why he had almost dyed other than him having hypothermia. His case of hypothermia hadn't been that bad and merely resulted in him having a mild cold.

Diana closed her eyes and tried to remember when he had been more talkative and lively. These days, two weeks after he had been found in his room, he was silent. Even their father was starting to worry when the principal had called in and explained the change in behaviour. Sure, his grades had improved but he didn't respond to anyone and spent his time alone in his room.

He lost the fire in his eyes and the golden-brown pools seemed to have changed and become dull and empty. She tried to talk to him but he would not respond, as if he couldn't hear her. She tried her hardest to get him to respond but nothing worked and he had devoted himself to a life of solitude. She wanted to cry when she would hear him mutter in a hollow voice but never once did she hear what he was muttering.

Their father had gone to the lengths of sending him to a physiatrist to help but he didn't respond to the doctor either. Session after session ended in failure and, since he was still functioning in the real world, they kept him at school. She'd often asked what the doctor had told her father but he would just shake his head saying it was always the same result. Silence.

Diana wandered into the blank room. Everything had been packed up and labeled so it was just his homework that lay out, finished. He was still standing in the rain staring blankly at the sky. To her it seemed that he was hoping for some miracle to save him and she wished that a miracle would come. She wanted the old Martin back, she wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay. If even the flicker of a small sign life would come to those eyes she would be pleased. A miracle still hadn't come but she wouldn't give up hope. She had to hope for the both of them so she would need to be strong.

The rain was falling harder and she saw their worried father guiding Martin back into the school. The blonde didn't resist or try to argue that he was fine. Their father was guiding him back to this room that was once full of comics and leftover pizza boxes. Diana felt a tear slide down her cheek in remembrance of the Martin she missed. The door opened and Martin stood there, soaking wet looking at her with blank eyes before sitting down on the bed with a dry pair of clothes.

It was another rainy day when she woke up and got ready for class. She knocked on Martin's door when she was done and saw him standing there ready to go. He looked as empty as ever with eyes that wouldn't; couldn't show anything. She touched his cheek and cupped her hand there. He walked away like it hadn't meant anything and made his way to class.

Diana wanted to cry in that moment. She wanted to scream that she was sorry and that she hadn't meant to say what she had said. She wanted to hold him tightly and tell him that he was important to her and to stop acting like this. She wanted him to be the old Martin Mystery who picked on her and got jealous when he saw Marvin with her. She wanted him to laugh at her expense so she could yell back and she wanted him to talk about anything and everything paranormal and impossible but he hadn't since the party. He hadn't said much after nearly dying without a reason.

She wanted to do all that but something always stopped her and she felt guilty because a part of her wanted this sometimes. Part of her wanted her brother to be mature and forget his outrageous notions but part of her wanted him back, most of her wanted him back to the way he was. She felt like a contributing factor in his new mannerisms.

Class came and went without a fuss and soon lunch approached. Martin sat next to Diana and his father. He ate the small meal in front of him and left quickly. He disappeared back into the rain again staring at a wall blankly. Diana followed him out with an umbrella. She sat down on the bench and held the umbrella over both of them.

"You'll catch a cold if you keep doing this." He turned and looked at her. "Please tell me what's wrong." She was wringing her hands. "I don't know how to say sorry if you're like this. Please come back Martin, be like you used to."

"I can't." It was the first time he had spoken in a while and his voice was soft.

"You can! You can! YOU CAN!" Diana was shouting now. "I want you back! What happened to become like this! I'm sorry I shouted those words! I didn't mean them! I didn't…" Martin looked up with those blank eyes and Diana thought she saw some small spark of life in them.

"Thank you." He looked up at the sky and Diana couldn't help but smile because he was smiling too.

"I thought you didn't care." She looked at him in shock. "I thought you hated me and that's when it happened. I let myself go but you know what?"

"What?"

"It's nice there. Sometimes it's almost calming. It's nice to know you can't let anyone down when you're there."

"What are you talking about?"

"The night I almost died I was there. It was dark and freighting but it was safe and once you get used to it you learn that it's not scary. It's really nice."  
"What is?"

"Being alone in endless nothingness." Diana pulled her brother into a hug. His head was against her shoulder as she sat there and shook with her sobs. "I made you cry again." He looked away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be…I'm not crying because of you. I'm crying for you and the darkness you faced. I didn't mean those words and I said them because I could. I didn't mean them, believe me."

"Why did you say them in the first place?"

"They just came out. I was angry at you for trying to get in my way, for making me lose my chance with Marvin. I was stupid, I know that now and I feel guilty everyday about it. When you almost died…I wanted to say I was sorry so much."

"Are you angry?"

"At you?"

"Yes."

"No…" Diana saw Martin stare at her and wanted to cry. The emotion in those eyes, the emotion that had been locked away for so long manifested in those empty eyes and she felt her break. She saw every doubt, she saw self-loathing and she saw sadness. "I may get upset with you when you screw up but we all screw up and I wish you would get mad at me when I do. I'll be upset and angry sometimes but I'll never hate you. I love you." She hugged him again and she felt him shake. He shoulders started to roll up and down and she heard him sob in angry, sad and possibly happy tears.

She knew he was still upset and part of him was still lost but she knew she would be there to help him out of that darkness. This time she wasn't going to leave him alone. This time she was going to be by his side and hold him whenever he felt like the world of nothingness was better then real life. She wanted to be his ray of light. The sun came slowly and cleared the rain and Martin felt like he was wanted because she wanted to be his ray of hope.

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**I hope you enjoyed this and there will be no sequal to this. So thank you for reading. Arigatou**. 


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